Originally Posted by LGA
Alright, I'm going to post my observations on Jones and SOB, for Jones it will be from the last 5-6 seasons, and from SOB it will be from his last year.
When Jones first came into the league he was one of my favourite players. He was surprisingly fast for a big guy, he had decent hands a good shot and a willingness to drive the net that was awesome. He was a real PK threat due to his combination of speed and size. However, at this point in his career he was also fantastically injury prone. As the years progressed, he lost some of that speed and his hands went from "shockingly good on occasion" to "why the hell can't you hold onto the puck?", however he managed to find his niche as a complimentary scorer. The injuries seemed to make him a bit gun shy, he didn't drive the net with nearly as much aggression and it severely limited his speed. His big production year came when he was on a line with Stastny and Stewart, now this was at a time when Stastny and Stewart were absolutely tearing things up, Jones really benefited from having Stewart driving the net and him being able to clean up the garbage. He was also a beneficiary of Stastny basically force feeding him goals. The most frustrating thing about Jones is that he is extremely streaky. When he is on a hot streak goals come easy, when he is on a cold streak you're cursing his name. Over the last few seasons he has also developed a strange habit (leading to many Avs fans joking that he must be boozing during the game) of falling all over the place. This combined with his mediocre hands led to many plays simply dying on his stick.
Now it's not all bad with Jones. He'll still surprise you every now and again with a big hit or a snipe, but it's not something that you should get used to. Hopefully, as a former fan of his game, he'll find that drive and determination that I saw during his first few years. He is at his best when he plays with reckless abandon, unfortunately he also seems to get injured whenever he plays this style of game.
SOB was a pleasant surprise at the start of last year. He wasn't great in any area of his game, but he was physical, decently mobile and was playing quite well. Unfortunately, when Sacco started feeding him more minutes his game began to fall apart. He looked good early because he kept his game simple, he was chipping the puck forward, moving it quick and playing a more conservative game. However, as the season went on he started to carry the puck more, and consequently lost the puck a lot more (when he went on these little expeditions we jokingly called him Shane Orr'Brien). I think that, with a good coach, SOB can make a good #6 defender. He is one of those guys that really needs a disciplinary breathing down his neck and keeping him under control otherwise he starts to become a detriment to the team. He seems to have a bit of a reputation throughout the league, so expect him to take quite a few penalties as well.
So there you have, my evaluations and observations of the two players you guys just acquired. You can ignore this, assume I'm an idiot, and that's perfectly fine. I personally really liked it as an Avs fan simply because it frees up the roster a bit. Sarich and SOB are pretty even IMO, I don't want either of them playing a major role on my team, and hopefully Sarich will be in the pressbox more often than he is on the ice. Jones seemed to only really be effective with Stastny, and I felt that he was dragging down Stastny's production. He isn't that great defensively, and his propensity to kill plays didn't allow Stastny to use his strongest asset (playmaking and cycling). Tanguay, hopefully reinvigorated, should make a good playmaking winger for Nathan MacKinnon (who they have stated they'll pick if they keep the #1).
I wish both Jones and SOB the best of luck, but I'm also very happy about this trade as an Avs fan.
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